You can find that in any big city though, and like you pointed out, it wasn't around in Milwaukee until just recently. And I agree with a previous post that Madison has a great dining scene, especially for a relatively small city.
My point is that the midwest doesn't have it's own cuisine. It's pretty unique in that regard. I mean there are potato pancakes, brats, cheese curds, random pickled cod things, etc, but you get my point.
Personal taste, I guess - you don't like German, Polish and Norweigan food. That doesn't mean we don't have cuisine, it just means you don;t personally like it. But no cuisine in the US is unique to the US - they all came over from other countries. Tex Mex wouldn't exist without Mexican influence, etc.
Just about every sausage you eat in the US comes from the German/Polish heritage, not to mention two of the biggest selling foods in the US - hamburgers and hot dogs came out of the German/Polisha heritage prevelant in the midwest. Deep dish pizza, pierogi, kielbasa, Kansas City & St. Louis BBQ, corn dogs, frozen custard, stollen, kringle, summer sausage, pasties, Italian Beef sandwiches, pork tenderloin sandwiches to name a few.
No, we don't have a lot of spicy food, but many of the european countries where our immigrants came from - Germany, Poland, England, Ireland, etc weren't known for their spicy food. So, if you like spicy, most traditional midwestern foods will be bland to your palate. But that doesn't mean that it's all that is available here, by any means. It's not like if you go into any Wisconsin restaurant all you'll find on the menu is brats, beer and cheese curds, lol! That is just a stereotype.
And I'm up in Antigo in the Northwoods and we have Chinese, Italian and a very nice place that serves the same variety you'd find in any big city restaurant.
I just get tired of people thinking all we eat here is beer and brats. I can't remember the last time I had a brat!
Milwaukee's food scene has been growing for about 20 years now - it's recent, but until recently, we were converting from blue collar industry to white collar and technology. That made the difference. We are no longer the city of Laverne & Shirley!
